Combination railroad car and power unit



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COMBINATION RAILROAD CAR AND POWER UNIT Filed March 2l, 1923 7Sheets-Sheet 6 n. 11 1927. 'la c. E. F. AHLM A COMBINATION RAILROAD CARAND POWER UNIT Filed MaICh 2l, 1923 7 Sheets-Sheet '7 IN ufr/2701 Ca/JMafnam,- g? Mgr 6112102? Eggs lPatented Jaim/11,1927.v

,UNITED- STATES? CHARLES E. F. AHLM, I

CLEVELAND HEIGHTS, OHIO.

COMBINATION vRAILROAD CAB AND POWER UNIT.

Application led latch 21, 1928. Serial 110.626,54.

This invention relates to railway truck and coach construction, one ofits objects being the provision of a combined power unit and railway carsuch asto permit an 5 internal combustion engine, such as that of anautomobile, being used effectively and efliciently with the presentfamiliar coach and truck construction and whereby a simple drivingmechanism may connect th 1o motor with the axle of the coach or truck.Automobile constructions for power units for moving coaches and cars` onrailways have been in use, but-for various reasons they are notsatisfactory. Railway enginearing requires that coach and carconstruction must not`= be materially altered. vThe truck constructionin particular, will not permit of material changes.

In attempting to adapt an internal comblistion-automobile Amot-or tosuch railway "cars, the motors have usually been mounted upon theplatform of the coach or car and connections have'been attempted and infact, more or less successfully accomplished, but with difficulty, wherethe driving means is extended through the pivotal connection between thecar and truck, and then to one ofthe axles of the truck. Such aconnection must necessarily allow universal movement 5G at the jointbetween the car and truck and must also have universal movement .topermit of the relative movement between the axles and the truck frame.It alsov necessitates turning several corners with the power Adrivingconnections, and it greatly interferes with thev arrangement ofVsuitable change speed gearing.

More specifically, therefore, the object of the present invention is toadaptan automobile motoi and transmission mechanism to the truck, thatis, the standard truck ofa ycar or coach, without altering thestandardand accepted railwayr construction of the truck and with theleast amount of alteration ofthe car or. coachbody. In other words, Idesire to combine the power unit of automobile practice, withthe-.perfected engineering.practicefof railways, in a sim-v ple andeffective. manner. In this way, I

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obtain a better drive to the wheels, a simple rear axle drivingconnection betweenyupon a standard railway truck, a suitable means forcarrying a motor and transmission means and the connections between themotor and one of the axles of the truck, and at the same time makeprovision for relative movement of the axle and truck frame, andeliminate the usual trouble arising from the movement of the truck withrelation to vthe car body. v I l i Generally speaking,'I may 'accomplishthe above objects by either of two simple meth ods. One is to extend thecarrying frame of the truck forwardly past the end of the usual car bodyand there mounta suitable cab or support for the driver, and bring thecontrols for the motor to the drivers position, and allow the support orcab, controls, etc., to be rigid with the truck frame While swingingwith it independently of the car body. Another method is to cut throughthe Dfloor 'of the `car body and while still carrying all of the drivingparts, the drivers support, control, etc., on the truck frame, and allowthe drivers support to swing within the car body, wherefore theappearance of the present car body would be least interfered with. f

Further objects in carrying out my invention are, to. provide a powerdriving unit, including a truck, motor, control, cab, drivers cab, etc.,connected to the car body only by the usual bolster pivot, whereby thisunit may be )removed from the car body with practically no difficulty,and then may v beattached to other car bodies or be used for movingtrailers and`the like, when dev sired. My invention also permits the useofthe standard brake, lighting and other equipment of -the.car. Y l

In `the partic'ular embodiment shown in the drawlngs, I have included inthe power mechanism and transmission means, an electric regenerative-transmission device, such for example, as the. type shown, described,and claimed in my c0pending application N0. $5,064, filed August 24,1921, and this electrical transmission allows for the widest range ofthe changes in speed, als well as permits of regeneration for brakingaction,

power for the car lighting battery, etc.

lA practical, and at present, referred form of myinvention,'is,illustrate inthe accompanying drawings, the followingdescription relating to these drawings makes apparent Y the operationand construction thereof and and furthermore, allows a generation ofymarized in the claims.

- body may be supplied wit In the drawings, Fig. Lisa side elevation4 ofa portion of a passenger car and railway truck, the truck being partlybroken away and shown somewhat diagrammatically and associated' with adrivers cab and control at the forward end of the car; portions of thecab being broken away to illustrate the relative position of the motortherein; Fig. 2 is a plan View of these parts; Fig. 3 is a frontelevation of the cab and coach of this construction; Fig. 4, is a sideelevation showd ing the arrangement of the driver-s cab orf support withthe control inside of the coach, and carried by the truck;fFig. 5'is asectional plan of the power unit mounted on the truck, showing therelative position of the carbody and drivers support or cab, in brokenlines; Fig. 6 is a transverse vertical section through the truck, at thepivot thereof, showing the relative position of the motor and car body,

the planel of the section being taken substantially on the line 6-l6 ofFig. 4; Fig. 7 is a vertical sectional detail of the drivers cabof Figs. -1, 2 and 3, showing the relative arrangementifof the drivers sup rtand a suitable arrangement of contros for the motor, brakes etc. Fig. 8,is a plan view of a car, trackway and truck, showing the relativemovement of the' same, where the construction is that of Figs. l,2;,'and 3; Fig.

l 9 is a similar view, showingthe manner of relative movementbetween'thedrrvmg truck and platform, where the drivers support and cab are withinthe car body. Fig. 10 is a slightly enlarged sectional plan of amodified arrangement showing the cab with `a passageway.

, Referring to Figs-1, 2 and 3, 1 designates the usual car body, havin abase 2. The

the usual windows 3 andfdoors such as at 4. This body is,

-of course, supported in the usual manner by pivots upon two railwaytrucks, adapted to run on rails desi nated 5, and shown as having theusual w eels 6 on the axle 7, and wheels 8 on the-axle 9, connected bya. suitable frame 10, having side members 11, and

' cross members 12,- the lcentral cross member being reinforced as isusual to support the usual pivot 14. The rear axle of this truck isshown as providedwith a worm gear 15,

with-which meshes a worm 16, mounted ona floating or universal shaft18,u connected through a universal joint 19, with a suitable.transmission ,mechanism within a housing designated 20. The worm andworm gear are preferably mounted in suitablea housin s, rotatablyembracing, the axle `7,' wheey when vthe rear axle moves upwardly janddownwardly ,with vrelation t'o the truck frame, and therefore, withlrelation to the transmission mechanism, it may relatively shift aboutthis axle as the angle of the driving shaft is thereby changed. Thedriving shaft 18, may of course, be telescoping or suiicient movementmay be allowed at either end thereof, by iiange connections as desired`The Atransmission mechanism is of the generative electric type which maybe used to change the relative speed of the motor and driving shaft 18,through varying degrees by magnetic reaction and up to points ofoverspeed with relation to the motor by generative effect and used forbraking action by causing regeneration, due to the relative movement ofthe driving and driven shaft, that is, of the axle and motor on downgrade or when coming to a stop. The transmission mechanism of course,may be of any suitable type, either mechanical or elcctrlcal The motoris of any usual type used in v` automobiles, or motor trucksand is shownonly as illustrative of such a motor. shown, 22 designates theframe.including the housing and 23 and 24r the intake and exhaust manifold,while 25'designates the usual radiator connected with the waterjacket ofthe motor. These parts are shown and referred to only to illustrate therelative posftion of the'motor` and truck frame. I will now describe themethod of mounting the mot-'or and transmission means of the truck framel0.

It will be noted garticularly in Fig. 2, that rigid with the truc frameare two separated forwardly extending beam members 30.

lll!) These members extend to each side of the frame of the truck inabout the same manner 'as motors are usually mounted 1n the frames ofautomobiles and trucks, that is, the laterally projecting brackets orlugs of the motor frame restv upon \the parallel beams or frame members30, which in turn are spaced attheir forward ends 'and arranged tosupport the usual radiator 25.

O ne of the great advantages accomplished by the arrangement of amounting, such as illustrated, is that I am enabled without vdiiicultyto resiliently mount the motor and transmission means with springs underthe engine supports as is frequentl done in road trucks, for example.Suc relative movement of the motor and truck frame will'fallow the iabsorbing of the truck vibration and avoid damage and wear to themo'-tor and transmission parts.- AWith the .universal drive shaft, suchmovement is possible.

'and affords no objectionable features and needs no change in theconstruction.

A cab surrounding the motor and rising' therefrom, may be mounted upon aframe structure consisting of a substantially rectangular lframe 35,secured to the truck frame and to the members 3d ri id with the frame,and above the motor in th1s cab which is designated as a whole 35, maybe a floor 36 which may form the operators support. By arranging thiscab so that it is entirely mounted upon vthe franie of the truck, itwill construction-but for convenience, I have il.

lustrated it as provided with front and side v windows 37 while at 38 a'suitable doorway may be arranged, at either side of which are handles 39to' facilitate the drivers entrance and exit from the cab.

Within the cab as illustrated in Fig. 7,A I have provided a convenientarrangement of the control mechanism which will now vbe' described.Connected with the regenerative unit by suitable linkage is a lever forshifting a series of brushes about-their commut-ator on theA primaryarmature. The lever 70 is shown as mounted on a bracket near the top ofa hollow post 71, extending through the floor and held ri id by thefloor and a bracket on thetruck rame 10. This post corresponds to thesteering column in an automobile and contains shafts forlcontrolling thespark andgasoline feed, which have at their upper extremity controllevers 72 and 73 operating on a quadrant in the usuall manner.

The `control lever arm of which carries av link 74 operating on a rockshaft 75 supported by the truck frame. At the left of the rock shaft isa lever arm which carries a link member 76 shown in Fig. 5 connectedwith a bell crank 7,7, an arm of which rocks the brushes in theregenerative unit through a rodI 7 8.

The controller unit 79 for the regenerative system may be mounted on theforward wall of the cab. 80 indicates a foot pedal for operating themechanism referred to in my co-pending application as they reversingdrum and is connected by means of a link 81, a. bell crank 82 and a rod83 to the brake arm 84, best shown in Fig. 1.

The usual valve arrangement for controlling` the air braking s vstem isprovided at 85 having a controllever 86 and conducting pipes 87extending through the Hoor and connected with the car by the usualflexible hose coupling 88.

A drivers seat may be provided within 70 is a bell` crank, anv

easy reach of all these control members such as indicated in brokenlines at 89 in Fig. 7

Suitable fuel storage receptacles may be provided on the truck inproximity to the driven axle as shown in broken lines at 90 in Figs. 4and 5, where it may be supported by the end or side frame members. Afilling tube 91 is shown as leading rearwardly and to the side ofthe carin an easily accessible position. Another convenient location isillustrated in Fig. 1 wherein the fuel supply tank 93 might serve as asupport for the drivers seat. It has been found convenient to mountelectrical storage units beneath the coach body where they may be easilyaccessible and at the same time be out of the wa of.moving parts. Nospecific manner o so mounting the unit is illustrated. Such a storageunit could 'be very simply connected with the regenerative systemandthenecessary control switches in the drivers cab. f

From the description preceding, it will be seen' that I have providedthe composite unit, consisting of the ange wheels and axles andtruck.frame of usua standard construction, such as reflects railroadpractice to the extent of practically requiring no alteration of thistruck, and with, this have combined the driving mechanism carriedthereby, inl such a fashion as to `afford no mechanical or engineeringdifficulties. That is, the Amotor is rigid yvith the truck, thetransmission mechanism is connected with ihe motor in the usual fashion,and extending from the transmission mechanism is a worn and Worm geardriving means, connected with the rear axle of the tru-ck. This is aplied by a ir cylinders such as are most commonly used in railroadpractice andihisv requires only the usual -air line connection, with thevalves such as previously described', mounted near the drivers positionand all movable with the truck frame. It will also be seen that the onlyconnection between the driving unit, consistingof the motor,

,transmissiom truck and cab', and the car body, is vthe usual bolsterpin or pivot and that by lifting the car body, this power unit may bedriven from the car body and attached to another, or may be usedindependentlyof cars and to draw or puslr them for switching purposes orin an emergency.

It will further be noted that the arrangement heretofore describedconsists of a car body supported at one end on a standard truck and onthe other end on a standard truck, altered only sutliciently to carrythe motor, transmission mechanism and drivers cab, and that both ofthese trucks are connected to the car body in the usual manner andwithout any alterations of this vital portion of railway car`construction.

I will now describe a modified form of this arrangement which consistsessentially of the .same mechanical combination but which avoids theshortening of the car body to provide for bringing the motor closer tothe truck, than would be practical in case the usual overhang ot the carbody beyondthe truck should be permitted.

Referring now to Figs. 4, 5, 6 and 9, it will first be noted that I haveshown somewhat more of thex truck construction and motor mounting, whichwill make clear the description in this connection relating to theconstruction above described.v Here the side frame members of the truckare shown as extending downwardly and receiving the usual axle bearingboxes indicated at 40, while the springs 41 over these axle boxes arecarried above the boxes and within the guide recess above as indicatedat 42. The central portion of the truck is shownfas having cross members43, 44, between which are the springs carrying the pivot bolster, inturn carrying the pivot receivingbracl-et for the lpivot 14; thesesprinos are designated 45. Vertical plate menibers 46, earriedfby thecross members serve to check any bending or twisting of the spring dueto a pitching movement ot' the car. With this sort of side frameconstruction, a suitable forward extension may be provided,

where instead of bars 30 alone, I have suit-v able brackets extendingdownwardly'for a deeper vertical lheight as shown at the forward end ofthe truck in Fig. 4.

The principal difference in the construc- .tion shown in this modifiedform, is that above the motor and carried on a suitable frame, havingparts which may be il`lustrated by broken lines at 50, 51 and 52, Fig.5, I have a much narrower cab within the usual overhang or front portionof the car body. This cab may be a mere frame work, while theI driverlooks out through windows such as 55 in the forward end of the car body,and to allow suliicient height for the driver to stand on a platformsuch as indicated in broken lines in Fig. 4 above the motor, anddesignated 5T, the forward portion of the car body 1, may be raised asindicated at 58 in the upper portion of this figure.

The frame work of the cab is narrower at the front than at the rear, andthe rear walls are formed on slight angle with relation to `the normaltransverse direction of the ear,

so that when the truck and car body change their relative angle, asillustrated for example in Fig. 9, the side wall or frame memcab, sothat he may ,have entrance therefrom,

to the main body of the car.

In case it is desirable to avoid the danger of the relative shifting ofthe walls 52 and fwhile the truck and car body swing as they do passingaround curves, switches and under like conditions, a rearward extensionma be made of the cab, such as illustrated in ig. 10, which forms anarrow passageway only sufficient for the driver or motorman to passandextends substantially to the position of the pivot 14. In this case,guard walls 60 and 61 would be formed'at either side of this passage,corresponding to the angle which the wall 64 forming the passage maymake, and it will be noted that the walls 54 and 61 will allow theextension of the seating capacity substantially to the position wherethe wall 53 would come, in the form of car shown in Fig. 5. In thiscase, I would need only a very slight sliding connection` between theframe or passage wall 64 with those of the wallsl 60 and 61, and suchsliding connection would be equally disposed about the line. or verticalaxis of the pivot, whereby the connection between the movable Xwallsleading to the drivers cab or support,'and the relatively stationarywall of the car body, would require but the slightest movement, andcorrespondingly could be made to eliminate any danger resuIting fromthis relative movement.

If necessary, a movable wall ofvbellows construction such as indicatedat 65, Fig. 10 might be used between the ends of the members 64 and thedoorway or opening, or the construction might be such that the wallvmembers 64 would extend :t short distance through the opening leadinginto the coach. Thus it will be seen thatI .have provided a power drivenunit adaptable to the usually accepted form of railway-coach which maypreserve `the integral appearance of `the structure and at the same timeembody all the essential advantages earlier set forth.

My invention, not only permitsof embodiment in an automotive railway carcombination with simplicity, but has many additional advantagesf Forexample` with either construction described, the operator is alwaysfacing directly along the trackway even though the end of the car bodymay be pointing away from the trackway at a YBo . sharp angle asisalways the case on a sharp curve. Another advantage is, that the headv'lamp mounted as indicated at 95 on the cab 35 would be pointing alongthe trackway at all times-instead of first to one side and then theother as is now the case with the usual electric car or locomotivearrangements. v

The construction illustrated may, `of course, be applied tobotli ends ofthe car, wherebyJ I am enabled to meet one of-the fre uent demands ofrailway engineers for dou le end drive of such cars. These may drive atthe same time, although normally would be simply used singly; one at oneend for running the car in that direction, and the other at the otherendv similarly arranged, so l that the car might be operated equallywell v -fin both directions;

y f By the use of the mounting and arrangement described with theelectricaltransmission, the objection to mechanical gear shift is asstated entirely eliminated, andthe very necessary gradual speed changeswithout loss of power, allows very great flexibility of control whileproviding economy and efiiciency of operation'. Y

Hating thus described my invention, I claim 1. In combination with arailway car having the usual flanged .wheel trucks ivoted' thereto andsupporting the body t ereof, vof an internal combustion motor mounted onone of the trucks rigid with the frame thereof, transmission gearingconnecting the motor with one of the axles of said latter truck; anvoperators cab mounted on the truck and extending upwardly and havingits floor above the floor level of the car and havingcontrols within thecab.

2. In combination, a flange steered truck,

a car body pivoted at one end to the truck and projecting forwardly ofthe truck, partition members within .the car body forward of the pivotpoint whereby the seating capacity of the c ar may be increased andpartitionmembers extending rearwardly therefrom centrally of the carbody and substantially to the pivot point.

3. In combination a flanged steered truck, -a car body pivoted lat oneend tothe truck i and projecting-forwardly ofthe truck, par-- locatedjtition members `within the ear body forwardly of the pivot point wherebythe se-at- 111g capacity of the car may be increased and partitionmembers extending rearwardly vbers .extending inwardly from the sidewallsv and rearward continuations of said parti- Y tion members, aflange guided truck, a framey therefor, a pivotal connection between4the truch/ and the car body substantially in line with the ends of thelast named partition members, -a power unit mounted on the truck frame,an perators platform carried by 'the frame forwardly of the pivot andextending within the car body, control levers on the platform andsidewalls contiguous with the `platform and defining a `runway movablewithin the rearwardly extending partition members. l

6. In combination a trackway,..a truck guided thereby, a carbodyffpivoted to the truck and superposed at one end on the truck,`aftransverse partition within the car body forwardly of the pivotpoint, an operators support mounted on the truck and rearwardlyextending walls defining a telescoping ,passage extending rearwardlyfrom the support and beyond the partition.

7. In a flange steered truck, a frame, a pair of axles, wheelssupporting the axles, a resilient mounting for the axles on the frame,power means carried kon the frame and a propeller shaft and universaljoint connecting said means to one of the axles` a cross. frame' memberand springs carried thereby, `an arched memberbridging the propellershaft and-resting on said springs and a pivot rest for one end of a carsupported by the Acrown of the arch.

8. A trackway, a pair of flange steered trucks, a car body superposed onthe trucks, power means mounted on one of the trucks independent of thecar body/comprising an internal combustion motor, anelectricregeneratilve transmission system, a universal joint, a propeller shaft,reduction gearing associated therewith, an air brake mounted on thetruck, an operators cab mounted on said truck7 and substantially rigidtherewith and adapted to swing independently of the body and within thesame, and control leyers and fuel storing means within the ca 9. In anautomotive railway car, a four wheeledtruck, a frame therefor, a pivotplate carried by the frame, a car body supported at one end by the pivotplate, power means mounted on the frame, a power control system and anoperators support mounted on the truck frame and the snpport positionedwithin the car body and laterally movable relative thereto.

10. In an automotive railwjay car, flanged wheels, axles, a truck frametherefor, power means mounted on the' frame and drivingly connected withone of the axles, a pivot plate carried by the frame intermediate the,rigidly mounted on the said frame and positioned within the car body,and relatively movable thereto.

In testimony whereof, I hereunto aflix my l5 si gnature.

CHARLES E. F. AHLM.

